Penal exiles on Valaam in the middle of the 19th century

In this paper, based on the materials available as part of the archival holdings of Valaam Monastery, the Russian State Historical Archives, and the Central State Historical Archives of St. Petersburg, the question of the use of the Valaam Monastery as a place of penal correction exile in the middle of the 19th century is examined. The attempts of the abbots of Benjamin (1833 - 1839) and Damascene (1839 - 1881) to free the monastery from such use are also studied. Persistent actions of Abbot Damascene (Kononov), supported by Archimandrite Ignatius (Bryanchaninov), were finally successful. The hierarchy, having examined the challenges posed by the presence of penitents on Valaam, took appropriate steps that were beneficent for the monastery.